Using Connected Vehicle data to improve road safety and reduce local speed limits
This case study uses Compass Road Intelligence
Inner West Council in Sydney recently completed a data collection study as part of their InnerWest@40 project. The study provides rigorous data-driven evidence to support a reduction of speed limits across the LGA to significantly improve road safety for all road users, particularly pedestrians and cyclists.
The project combined data from the council, NSW Open Data Hub, and Compass IoT to investigate a reduction of the speed limit on local streets from 50km/h to 40km/h. Specifically, the Inner West Council wanted to understand speed and near-miss data across the entire LGA.
Compass speed data showed that almost 60% of traffic across local road segments traveled at or below 40km/h. Reducing the posted speed from 50km/h to 40km/h would be an accurate reflection of the existing traffic environment. Near-miss data also correlated well with crash statistics for the inner west.
As a result of the study, the council is now considering next steps within areas flagged as high priority. The LGA-wide speed reduction strategy has the potential for significant economic benefits in the costs associated with the reduction of road trauma, savings in crash costs, reduced emissions, promotion of active transport and an increase in existing amenity and place-making opportunities.
Looking at crash cost savings only, a potential estimate of 30% reduction in all injuries could result in estimated savings of:
- $7,211,063 per year when local 50km/h streets are converted to 40km/h
- $29,378,872 per year if the initiative were expanded to all 60km/h classified roads.